cleared. One of the figures jabbed at an electronics board on the wall. The back of the chair descended until she lay prone. A large round tube slid out of the wall. The seat and back of the chair had magically turned into a gurney that slid automatically into the tube, encasing her within. A soft humming sounded as it turned. She’d seen the scanners in operation, but had never been in one. It was scanning her body for the exact placement of each enhancement and type of enhancement.
The tube stopped rotating and disappeared into the ceiling. The whole procedure had probably only taken about twenty minutes, but it seemed like hours. The three doctors, if that’s what they were, conferred softly with each other while looking at a screen on the wall. The voices were male and she wondered if they were her usual interrogators. It didn’t sound like them, but the masks would distort their voices.
Her entire body turned into a mass of pins and needles as sensation returned. She tried to stop it, but a soft groan escaped from deep within.
“Secure her,” one of the men said.
The chair slid out of the tube. Its back straightened. The braces reappeared and snapped around her arms, wrists and ankles.
“Prisoner one-zero-one-eight-eight, you have one last chance to tell us why you are here. The drug we administered also contains a much bigger dose of truth serum than we normally give you so your enhancements won’t help you now. Answer our questions and you’ll win back your freedom and won’t need to have the surgery.”
Oh, they lied so well. As if they’d set her free now. No, their idea of freedom was to remove the enhancements, even if she gave them the answers they wanted. Very few knew of the extra enhancement implanted into her brain, deep enough that only a brain scan could possibly detect them. Concentrating hard, she fought to block the truth serum’s potency.
“Tell us the name of your leader!”
Haven remained silent. She knew the questions all by heart, and even though she could lie and name someone else, there was no way. They’d given her the stronger drug, but her enhancement still worked to protect her against it. They’d get nothing out of her.
“Your leader!”
A prod with the electro rod caused her body to jerk in protest. Grinding her teeth together, she peered at the masked men. She’d love to know who they were so if she ever saw them in the future, after her escape, she could knock their blocks off. Or more.
“What is the name of your organization?”
Another prod, this time right in the center of her belly. She arched against the pain while grinding her teeth together, refusing to give them the satisfaction of a scream.
“One-zero-one-eight-eight, give us names, places, and we’ll let you go.”
One of the men punched her in the ribs, then on the side of her face. Her ears rang with the force of the blow.
“Go easy. We don’t want to kill her,” one of the others said.
“Who gives a flying fuck, Nudris? She’s not going to talk. You know it. We all know it. She’ll die on the operating table tomorrow, anyway. So far, only one has survived the procedure and he became a zombie.”
“Pity. She’s a delectable piece of flesh. Look at that virginal pussy.”
“For God’s sake, get your fucking mind out of the gutter, Shory!”
“What made you a fuckin’ priest all of a sudden?” the one called Shory said while he stepped forward and grabbed her breasts with both hands.
Get your fucking hands off me, you piece of shit. I’ll remember you ! She felt like shouting, but clamped her lips together tightly.
Haven was mortified. The hands didn’t leave her breasts, or her nipples. She wanted him to lift his visor so she could see his face, wanted him to remove the damn helmet. The only reason they wore the gear was so she wouldn’t know who her interrogators were. They couldn’t be the same men who’d interrogated her daily. Those stony faces were engraved in her